On UI inconsistency in iOS 5
A while back, designer Jake Marsh commented on an inconsistency in Apple's use of linen textures in iOS 5 (hat tip to Daring Fireball). In both OS X Lion and iOS 5, the linen texture is "underneath" other UI elements in almost every instance. In Lio...
iTV
The moment I read the “I’ve Cracked the TV” quote from the Steve Jobs bio, I knew what the subject of the next few months at the rumor mill would be. Here it is in context: “‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ [Jobs told Isaacson]. ‘It would...
Size matters: why the iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen
One of the things Android phone owners love to brag about -- particularly those who have the new Samsung Galaxy S II with its 4.27-inch diagonal screen -- is that the larger screens are much easier to read and watch videos on. Dustin Curtis has ow...
Labeling iOS’ Back Button
Labeling iOS’ Back Button Neven Mrgan shares a solid piece of advice for iOS app designers and developers: A Back button labeled “Back” is never a good option. As he notes, Apple never labels the “Back” button — the left-pointing arrow at the top of most iOS apps — “Back”. They provide context as to how...
Apple keyboard gets touchy-feely with wooden tactile mod
This seems to be the day for keyboards. First, I wrote a review of the Scosche freeKEY flexible and water-resistant Bluetooth keyboard. Now we have word from CreativeBits of a wonderful keyboard mod that uses the tactile feel of sandblasted wood g...
Standard Controls and HIG: They’re there for a reason
One trend trend that has picked up momentum of late, is applications sporting custom user interfaces. It started off with minor customisations to the tab bar, or maybe a different shade of blue, but has somehow mushroomed out into complete disregard for what makes iOS the platform it is today. Publishing Beautiful Pixels, a blog...
Aqua: Digital paintings made up of OS X elements
Here's more proof that beauty can often lie hidden, even though it's right before your eyes. Digital artist Johannes P Osterhoff found an artistic quality to Apple's Aqua user interface and decided to base a series of digital "paintings" using several ...
Rethinking the iPad Browsing Experience
Rethinking the iPad Browsing Experience →
Rich Ziade at Arc90, the guys behind Readability, have discussed a new user interface for Safari on the iPad:
When we design within a new arena that represents a dramatic shift in interaction, we can’t help but carry forward our own biases and prejudices about how things can or should...

